Want to know portrait photography tips for working with direct sunlight? Photographer David Flores tells you how to do a photoshoot in the sun.
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Comments
38 responses to “How to Take Portraits in Harsh Sunlight | 5 Quick Tips”
Tell us about your experience battling the elements for a photo.
This video is so under exposed I could not get past the 5 minute mark.
These images would be great for antidepressants ad campaigns. Go pitch them
What a joke. In other words, don't worry about the light, just embrace it as is and take horrible photos. Those silhouettes, horrible! How is the outline of a person's ear interesting lol. The points have some merit in some situations, but there is a lot more to using those tips than what was presented in this video.
I really like that you had a guy as a model! I goes to show that it´s the photography that comes first, not the curvy, beutiful female model, that often is the case in instructional videos. Now having said that, I have to confess that I don´t mind these models, but it´s nice to see that it isn´t necessary for the physics of photography:-D
these are awesome tips! Thanks!
Dude your tip's are fine but those photos sucks 😝
Just amature photographs
Dude!
Nice video. Very informative
I’m not nearly advanced enough to say “this guy’s work is wrong/not good.” I will say when I clicked this link, I expected tips on using reflectors and open shade as conventional methods of making portraits at high noon.
This was most decidedly, not that.
Great video. I always encounter this moment that my camera can't focus on anything and shutter won't take photos…
Oof. Not a fan of this. Uneven light and shadow "patterns" are not flattering. These look like smartphone snapshots.
This was super helpful!
Growing up in the late 60's~70's I remember at noon on a clear day the sun was very much yellow in color. Fast forward to the late 1990's to present, now at noon on a clear day the sun is a blinding white color. This white color of the sun is in reality it's raw unfiltered color. The yellow sun of yesterday year was not seen as white because of the scattering/diffusion of the suns light as it passed through the ozone in the atmosphere.
Today the UV count is much higher than it was 50 years ago because now we have a much thinner ozone layer than we used to. Today the only time you will see the sun appearing the color it used to be is at sun-rise and set because it is at those times that the suns light is passing through a greater cross sectional area of the atmosphere.
I am astonished that these observations of the suns drastic change in color has not been mentioned by any media source or news article or in any published scientific paper. If one is old enough to remember the yellow sun then you will know the suns color has indeed changed. Yet most of those who are old enough to remember the yellow seem to be oblivious of the change in the suns color even though on most days of their lives the sun has literally been right in their face. I find this extremely bizarre, how is it possible that so many people can be so completely unobservant to the blatantly obvious change in the suns color, especially when the topic of climate change is so prevalent in recent times, to me this level of unawareness is simply mind boggling.
Yeah, embrace the light. Great tips. Not. Try doing a wedding couple in harsh sunlight in the park. Now that would be a useful video. And yes, you then need more than a camera.
This is bogus. And incredibly bad video editing. Color grading and drinking don't go well together, I suppose.
Did someone hack the B&H channel?
No good
Sounds like he knows what he's talking about but the photos are quite average :/
I've been practicing shooting portraits at the beach in harsh sunlight. I had to increase my shutterspeed to about 2000 to get my pictures dark enough because I was blurring the background by shooting with the biggest aperture. Is that the best way to do it? I actually did it with a 70-300mm Canon Lens and then I used my 18-135mm Canon lens. I don't actually understand why I need to use the 70-300mm lens to get a blurry background. It worked on the 18-135mm lens as well. Any advice?
Great tips David. I need to find and watch more of your videos. Please, keep up the great work.
Bro please mention the lens u r using in this shoot..!!!!!
Harsh light is perfect for shooting infrared. My favorite spectrum's are 470nm and 590nm.
I would rather use the scrim in my 5 in 1 reflector for soft light on close-up shots or the sun as a backlight with the reflector as a fill. Harsh light is never flattering to begin with, especially when shooting portraits.
Client: I just need a headshot.
Photographer: No, trust me look up into the sun. Bask in the glory of the sunlight.
Now look down, now lay on that rock, 3.2.1. open your eyes. Now hold your hands in the air like you’re Jesus.
3:55 Nothing about this shoot was comfortable. Your timing on saying that and then the next series of photos proves it.
4:09 Best tip in the videos. 👏🏼
Put your lens hood on!!
I would suggested reflectors etc. But who am i to do so? Haha
Uuhhmm speed light or nd filter?!
The video looks nice but pictures kinda crushed, having a limited pallet. Is it video editor compression or edited like that? Looks horrible
2:37 people coming up the hill in the background, looking forward and wondering “what the heck is going on up there“. 😉
half ( or more ) of this video has been in the shadows… wow.
Use a skylight to avoid the nasty blue tones that where all over this video (get it right in the camera instead of tweaking in the computer and loose nuances and time).
Let the light live! Expose for the mid tones and darker areas, after all it is bright in reality so let your photos reflect that and keep the feeling.
ISO, shutter or aperture? Don't just step down on all, use that big aperture, long shutter or high ISO to compose your photo even if the other values need to go "insane" (or a grey filter).
Boy I needed a new way to look at harsh light. These were great points. I always enjoy these videos. Thanks guys. 🥂
Totally useless and pointless tips.
David, good review of ways to use harsh light for portraits!
Ăs†rõpho†oğraphY
Harsh sunlight is good only for beach photos or black and white street photos…
Sorry, guys, not feeling these tips, a little bush league for B&H.
Very nice